Birds of a feather flock together
by your-biohazardous-friend
Summary: Kenobi's new padawan finally arrives to the Resolute. As the new addition to the team feels more at ease in the new environment, Ahsoka feels turmoil she never had before – not on the long run.
1. Test your gear…

**Disclaimer:** _Star wars_ franchise belongs to many people and companies from Gorge Lucas to Disney. _Ratchet and Clank_ is an iconic, forefront duo of _Insomniac games_.

 **Story summary:** Kenobi's padawan finally arrives to the Resolute. As the new addition to the team feels more at ease in the new environment, Ahsoka feels turmoil she never had before – not on the long run.

 **A/N:** inspired by the fact that both Obi-Wan Kenobi (from 2008 _Clone wars_ TV series) and Ratchet (from _Ratchet and Clank_ franchise) share the same voice actor.

* * *

 **Birds of a feather flock together**

By _your-biohazardous-friend_

Ahsoka watched bewildered as Obi-Wan Kenobi paced in his own, dignified, Jedi master way. She thought that The Negotiator was never anxious, never nervous. But here he was – instructing Commander Cody, once more, about up-coming cargo ship. Of course, Cody knew the procedures by heart. Heck! It was like teaching old man how to spit! The commander, due his flash training, was well aware since he was just a toddler. What made that vessel so special tho, wasn't crates or new batch of clone troopers. Ship with that kind of cargo would be treated just like any other that came and went to the Kra-Niec outpost.

That ship had Kenobi's new padawan on board.

Normally the padawan choosing was a great deal for both sides - younglings and their future masters alike. Jedi acolytes were dreaming, hoping and competing against each other to win respect or at least spike interest from their supposed future teachers. There was whole ceremony to it, sometimes more complex and subtle than any mating ritual known to a man. However, since the war started it all changed, padawans and their masters were paired at random at best. It almost seemed like that holoNET program – _the dating game_ – Ahsoka caught her troopers watch the other time.

The ship arrived just in time for Kenobi to not pop a vessel. It gracefully landed at the hangar bay. The doors opened with characteristic _hisss_ of depressurizing hydraulics. the clones tackled the boxes, at the same time the hatch touched the floor.

Ahsoka craned her neck for better view. She wasn't expecting anyone in particular. Of course, she remembered few faces and had her few picks among them that would be a blast to have in the team on a daily basis, but it wasn't as if she was hoping to meet someone in particular.

Who came out of the underbelly of the ship, however, wasn't anyone she expected. The new Jedi learner, Kenobi was so impatiently awaiting for the past few days, was small, thin and somewhat scrawny looking fella; covered in yellow fur with brown stripes. His enormous ears, just as his long brush-like tail, twitched at every sound that surrounded him.

Ahsoka remembered that boy from the Temple, he always stayed close to Talwyn – the freshly knighted Jedi female. He was that yellow smudge at the corner of her eyes at the dim corridors or yellow dot cutting against gray shelves of the library. He wasn't especially gifted in the force nor he was a good fencer, not on the long run. Exceptional Master was going to teach an average apprentice.

Great…

Ahsoka felt a pang of jealousy bubbling in her stomach as her peer jogged happily to his new master's side to exchange honorific bows. The kid's green eyes were open wide in awe, Ahsoka wandered if he even remembered how to blink. As weird and contradicting as it sounded, deep inside the Togruta hoped she would stay both Anakin's and Obi-Wan's padawan till her knighthood. Kenobi was a rock of their team and last line of defense against Anakin's bravado getting out of hand. Now, she had a feeling that this new padawan learner would ruin the ecosystem that was growing and flourishing steadily over the past few months of her apprenticeship.

"That's how the jedi version of a _shiny_ looks like" Ahsoka playfully elbowed captain Rex and pointed her slender finger toward the new Jedi acolyte.

The man nodded in agreement, she could feel the smirk concealed by the helmet. The clone captain would definitely pass the message forward to other troopers. Who knew, maybe the new, shiny padawan would experience a little bit of innocent, customary hazing?

Obi-Wan and the kid walked side by side toward the rest of the team; upon reaching them Kenobi started the official part of the introductions.

"this is my good friend Anakin Skywalker…" Obi-Wan started with his former padawan, Skywalker nodded politely in response. "And his apprentice Ahsoka Tano" Ahsoka waved her hand half-heartedly "the man with Jaig eyes painted on his helmet is the captain of 501st and Anakin's most trusted soldier - _Rex_ ," the clone came to attention and saluted in response "on his right, stands my right hand man - _Cody_ " another salute, more stiff and formal. "Anakin, Ahsoka, gentlemen. This is Ratchet – my new apprentice,"

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, annoyed with the official tone. When she first arrived, everyone was making fun of her – she was a _youngling_ , she even heard one of the troopers call her a _gremlin_! Why no one called this guy some _names_? Like _space rat, fur ball_ or… or something! Anything?

Kenobi watched Ahsoka for a while, as if the man could read her thoughts. He opened his mouth to speak, then glanced at his new student, who was already trying to coax one of the troopers to show him his blaster, and decided otherwise.

* * *

Ratchet did not eat with them; he excused himself, claiming he already had his meal on his way to the Resolute and decided to take a short stroll down the ship's corridors. Ahsoka was glad, as most likely it would be their last meal in old way of things. She wished the boy would just disappear. But even when Ratchet wasn't physically present at the table, he was still there nonetheless.

"From what I managed to gather from the archives, Ratchet is a sole survivor of a purge of his kin" Obi-Wan said between the spoonfuls of salty soup and mouthful of stale bread "Lombaxes were exceptionally advanced species, especially when it came to gadgets and tinkering – so I guess I've finally got someone to fill in Anakin's spot."

The chosen one rolled his eyes, smirking.

"yet even their most sophisticated minds couldn't win against brute force of Cragmites"

"Cragmites? Didn't they have an empire of some sort, at some point?" Ahsoka cut in, remembering a short note written by someone at the margin of one of the Jedi history textbooks.

"yes, they did" Anakin agreed, turning to her "there is whole conspiracy surrounding their conflict with Lombaxes. As that even with all the force and weaponry Cragmites had at the time, the stunt they pulled was impossible"

"what do you mean?"

"about fourteen- fifteen years ago the whole Lombax population disappeared overnight. _Poof_!-" Anakin made gesture with his hands imitating a blast of smoke "just like that. no bodies, no struggle - as if they all just vanished into thin air"

Ahsoka gasped. How could such a devastating weapon even exist? The Togruta female hoped that Separatists would never get a hold of such device.

"some people believe that Cragmites didn't kill Lombaxes at all" Obi-Wan added, seeing the dread on the padawan's face "but that the latter created a device that teleported them… elsewhere"

"teleported?"

"yes, most people believe they all teleported to the different dimension; others - that they just improved hyperspace travel which took them farther than any ship ever travelled."

"What do you think really happened?"

"Any guess is good at this point, Ahsoka"

"to sum up, Snips, Ratchet is the only Lombax left; be it genocide or space-travel"

"he's all alone in the universe" Ahsoka murmured to herself.

She quickly finished her meal and excused herself. With a nod of approval from both masters, the girl left the mess hall. It must have felt terrible knowing to be the only one in the universe. She would feel terrible being the only one Togruta left. But what filled the girl with more dread was that, if the Lombaxes really just travelled further into the space, why did they left one person behind? Was it because he was a force sensitive or was it an oversight?

A cacophony of laugher brought her out of her train of thought. She peered into the hangar. Inside, a multi-legion group of clones was chanting encouragements to someone in the middle of the circle. Suddenly a blast was shot to the air, half of the men shouted in approval, the other in anguish. So on the side there was also a bet going. Ahsoka even heard one clone throwing his helmet to the ground, grunting something along the lines of ' _showe it up your arsenal, Dixit!'_ \- Whatever that was suppose to mean.

"come on! Blaster's too easy!" Hardcase stated, passing through another type of weapon to the middle of the circle "let's see how you will handle _that_ "

The roaring of voices erupted, trying to shout one over another. Ahsoka squeezed between the swarm of plastoid armours to get to the front line. There, in the middle of the hassle, sitting on the cargo box, was Ratchet. Ration bar hung between his lips like an unlit cigar. His glowed hands were dismantling and assembling the device with ease. He really knew how to tinker with gadgets, as the Lombax was performing the task blindfolded.


	2. find your courage

**Chapter II**

Ahsoka couldn't sleep as she couldn't get her new colleague out of her mind. For her, being Anakin's padawan was both a great privilege and even greater struggle. She watched her master and his master and had doubts to ever getting at least close to their levels. Despite months of hard work and dedication, she was still _Snips_ in their eyes. The moniker hurt more than Rex's _Lil'un_ or master Plo's _little 'Soka_. Sometimes Ahsoka feared that no amount of achievements and wardrobe changes would ever change that.

She would forever be just Snips.

Ratchet on the other hand, quickly got his rep-up. Despite his plushy-like look, he blended in with the crowd of troopers a little bit faster than Ahsoka did. Maybe it was his gender, maybe his name that was just way too close to clones' nicknames or maybe because he rigged blasters by the ear giving the devices more firing power, shortening cooling down periods and prolonging cartridge usage?

Maybe…

Ahsoka jumped out of her bunk, clicked her lightsabers to their places on her belt and decided to take a stroll. She knew Resolute's corridors' layout by heart, she could practically walk around the ship blindfolded.

Take that, space rat!

* * *

"master, could you please pass me the OmniWrench?" at first Ahsoka thought it was Obi-Wan, but it just couldn't be right?

"which one is it?" Kenobi's voice sounded… confused "you have almost as many tools in that blasted box as Anakin has"

It was an odd sensation hearing both of them having a conversation. Normally Ahsoka had no problems with distinguishing Ratchet's and master Kenobi's voices but sometimes they sounded so similar - as if they were characters from some action holoseries voiced-over by the same actor!

"an Omni-wrench" Ratchet repeated "is that giant, blue-ish wrench-like tool – it's really hard to miss"

"this one?"

Ratchet scrambled, most likely from under his master's ship.

"m-hym"

"what an odd device" Obi-Wan was mused "where did you get it?"

"my birthday"

"I see… I've got a pebble from my master" Kenobi admitted casually, "I later gifted it to Anakin for his birthday"

"did he like it?" Ratchet's question came distorted from under the contraption that he dove back under it.

"well, I guess something like that…" Kenobi clicked his fingers to recall the name

"OmniWrench?" Ratchet suggested

" _OmniWrench_ would be more useful for him… but I guess he warmed up to that small pebble once he learned it's history"

Ahsoka's hand shot up to a back pocket of her utility belt where the infamous force-sensitive piece of smooth, black rock rested. Just as all of it's previous owners, she wasn't initially happy with her birthday gift however, learning that it also belonged not only to Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi but also to Qui Gon Jinn himself, lifted her spirit. It was an exclusive part of a legacy that Ratchet was not part of and, frankly, he will never be. Screw the OmniWrench and all the bolts Ratchet screwed with that fancy, flashy tool. A small force-sensitive rock was how true Jedi rolled.

The girl checked her chrono. Well, Rex was surely already asleep - This guy was a nerve wreck after the last campaign and waking him up would make him even more grumpy and paranoid.

so she decided to continue her stroll and hang around with whoever was on watch duty tonight.

* * *

"-At least our whole commander matches our legion colour scheme" Waxer joked, his mouth full of food "Not just partially, like yours"

"at least I don't eat fur with my every meal" Hardcase retorted, then took a sip of water from his flask.

The female padawan stopped dead in her track. Leaning by the wall to eavesdrop on the troopers small conversation.

"it's not that bad" Waxer admitted and, as on cue, plucked a strand of yellow fur from his snack "furthermore Commander Tano is girly cute, commander Ratchet is genderless cute"

"what cuteness have to do with anything?" Hardcase was always eager to defend his commanding officer.

"you think how we got those extra food supplies?"

"oh, tell me why, brother?"

"because Ratchet's coating is extra soft and fluffy"

"what?!"

"I kid you not! This guy spent few hours being hugged and stroked by various strangers while trying to convince them that giving us extra crates of supplies would be beneficial to them."

"It doesn't seem that bad"

"yeah if they were cute females like Twi'leks or humans, heck! even I would volunteer for that. but, man, have you seen the locals?! They are plain ugly and have cannibalistic tendencies. Some vendor's kid bit commander's tail so hard Sawbones had to apply bacta"

If Ahsoka had hair or fur it would bristle at the sheer mention of the tinkering padawan. She cleared her throat to mark her presence.

"no-one ever asked me to sit in people's laps and ask them for supplies." She admitted sourly, somehow childishly. The clones shoot up to attention, saluting.

"I-" she opened her mouth to give both men an earful for spreading gossips but her comlink beeped, cutting whatever she wanted to say. Ahsoka glanced at her wrist - it was a request for docking authorization.

"the jedi knight Talwyn Apogee, asking for permission to land, the ship's ID number is…"

Of course, with Anakin and Obi-Wan on board, she didn't need to make any fuss over it and it was no wonder the request was quickly green-lit.

Surely it's getting more crowded at the Resolute. It must have been someone important, or at least known, as Ratchet managed to get from one hangar to another in such short notice. How he did so was a mystery to her. His magnaboots were big, bulky and heavy footwear while Ratchet was always a thin, scrawny yellow smudge in Tano's field of vision when he run.

Yes, just like Ahsoka, Ratchet's Jedi uniform was modified to honour his heritage: unlike Tano's total makeover, his homage was more sublime as the Lombax still wore standard, grayish, padawan robes, but there was when the jedi dress code ended. Along with a simple utility belt around his obi, he also sported a tight fitting harness with odd, glowing V-like shape clasps and additional leather gloves and headgear similar to what twi'leks or old-school pilots from bygone era wore.

The docking vessel was small and looked like it seen better days – chipped paint, faded nose art, mended scratches and bumps were scattered around the vehicle, like battle scars on soldier's body.

"Talwyn" the voice of the canidae apprentice cut the commotion as female Jedi emerged from the ship.

Both aliens embraced in a tight hug - too tight, if Ahsoka had anything to say in that matter.

"what are you doing here?" Ratchet finally asked "reinforcements?"

"escort mission" Female knight replied proudly

"Cronk and Zephyr with you?"

Talwyn just rolled her eyes in response. Ratchet laughed. It must have been their inside joke of some sort.

"I've docked to replenish supplies and… there is someone waiting for you at the cockpit" Talwyn finished softly. "he really wanted to drop by and say hello"

Ratchet glanced at her skeptically. His eyes moved at the entrance of her ship, focused, as if he tried to either see through the shell of the vessel or feel the presence within the Force .

His ears immediately perked up.

"no way!" he muttered

"go on" Talwyn elbowed him playfully.

Unsurely he moved forward, slow at first, as if he mustered all his self-restrain to not to run like a madman.

The same moment, the furry padawan disappeared in the underbelly of a ship, he emitted a high pitched shriek.

"CLANK!"

Ahsoka peered over to witness her fellow padawan cling to a small, black and silver… droid?

"it's good to see you too, Ratchet" The machine's soft voice reassured.

"how are you feeling? I've missed you, ol' pal…" Ratchet hugged _Clank_ again, his voice breaking "how's the job at the clock?" Lombax and his friend slowly exited the ship, side by side.

"Nowadays Sigmund is taking care of it more than me" Clank replied "I was appointed as an ambassador to speak with the republic senate and as every political figure travelling incognito I was assigned to a Jedi bodyguard"

"that is kind of our shtick" Ratchet confirmed "especially if you _consider_ joining the republic"

"Initially I requested your assistance" the Zoni ambassador continued "but to my surprise my request was denied – now I can see why"

"seriously, it's impossible to please the Jedi council – especially master Windu - these days!" Talwyn interrupted "Neither the whole deal with protopet nor Dimensionator even the Deplanetizer disaster… nothing budged Ratchet's case"

Ahsoka couldn't believe the conversation she was hearing: Ratchet was some sort of battle-hardened warrior already fit for kinghood? She could have sworn the Lombax was straight out of the Jedi temple.

"come on, it wasn't that big of a deal" Ratchet retorted "I-"

"Senator XJ-0461" Obi-Wan greeted the small droid, bowing. "Knight Apogee"

"please call me Clank" the Zoni corrected.

"I see you already met my apprentice"

"as a matter of fact, we've met before"

"if it's not a problem" Talwyn asked "I would like to replenish the supplies"

"of course"

Talwyn bowed again and winked at Ratchet. Ahsoka rolled her eyes.

* * *

What was supposedly _just take a couple of minutes_ , stretched out for hours. It turned out, Talwyn's ship not only needed supplies but also hyper-drive recalibrations. Such upgrades could be done in half the time, if you had a skilled mechanic and didn't mind breaching few protocols. Resolute currently had two such mechanics: Anakin and Ratchet, however it couldn't be done due to Zoni ambassador. Thus Clank and Talwyn's vessel was flag-ship-bound for at least couple of hours. It seemed that the only person really minding the whole hassle was Ahsoka.

As always clone troopers swarmed around the newcomers in their usual wide-eyed and rather innocent fashion. They were like children in that regard, hungry for anecdotes, funny or gruesome stories. Winding up an opportunity for some storytelling they coaxed the young female Jedi with desserts and view of sleeping on the best bunk on the ship. Talwyn gladly complied. Even Rex and Cody, pretending _not_ to listen, listened the tales of wonder about battling pirates, escorting witches and other more or less recent adventures of not only starring Talwyn herself, but also Ratchet and Clank, who according to the female Markazin's tales were like a match made in the Force.

"hey! Guys!" Anakin popped up in the canteen.

All conversations died down in instant, all eyes locked at the Chosen one.

"I was thinking… what about some entertainment? I mean, we have such a refined guest today-"

"what do you have in mind, general Skywalker?" A clone trooper asked from the back.

"let's set a match between Ahsoka, Ratchet and few of you" the chosen one said coyly "I didn't see Ratchet in action yet and I can hear your joints squeak with every move thanks to all that peace and quiet"

"I'm in, Sky Guy" Ahsoka immediately agreed.

The Togruta glanced at her peer, Ratchet just shrugged his shoulders – he would go with a flow.

"excellent! Rex…" Anakin turned toward his right-hand man who immediately sprung to his feet, saluting "gather some volunteers"

The clones volunteered almost instantly and were mostly from 501st. Hardcase, as a borderline adrenaline junkie, was the first to sign up.

* * *

Clank, along with the Jedi generals and other commanding officers sat at the sidelines on fold chairs, that were mostly used during debriefings. It was hard to decipher Zoni ambassador's metal face, but he didn't look amused by it at all.

Both padawans ignited their lightsaber, thus starting the match. The rules were simple – Jedi could only redirect the blaster charges. A hit individual was proclaimed _dead_ , thus had to step out from the match. The last man standing won.

It was also Ahsoka's first time to even see the furry padawan's blade. She did see the hilt of it course, as it was strapped to Ratchet's harness all the time, it even somewhat mirrored look of an OmniWrench handle the Lombax held so dear. How Ratchet didn't mixed both of them, she had no idea. Now his blue blade was humming quietly as the young Lombax was jumping, dodging and ricocheting blaster fire with ease, however his fighting style left a lot to desire – he was rather ungraceful for a Jedi. The Lombax swung his blade hard, clumsily even, almost as if he had hammer in his hands, not a fine, civilized weapon. He didn't belong to the Jedi order. He belonged to some garage in the middle of nowhere. He should be fixing speeders, not wage wars. Of course it was unlikely for Jedi order to get rid of mediocre knights but maybe she could just… hurt him. Aim the saber right way and if only the guns were not set on stun…

Suddenly Ratchet cried in pain as he fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder.

Ahsoka snapped from her thoughts, jumped in front of him, skillfully blocking last stray charges with her lightsaber.

"rebound" Ratchet croaked "you… used Force on the blaster to-"

"enough!" Clank, despite his metallic face, looked terrified.

If not Talwyn's firm grasp on his shoulder, he would bolt out to his furry friend.

Anakin was utterly shocked by the turn of events, his widened eyes unblinkingly travelled from his padawan to the weapon at fault to his padawan again. Obi-Wan hurried to his apprentice's side but before he reached him, a clone medic – Kix, by the sound of it – was already by his side, probing and prodding the wound.

Ahsoka felt nauseous. She would never… ever! It was just a though, a stupid idea that she didn't even wanted to happen! Before anyone could address her directly, she bolted out of the hangar. Her montrals black from embarrassment and hot tears streaming down her cheeks.

* * *

As every Jedi acolyte, Ahsoka knew how to hide from teachers. It was an arcane knowledge that every padawan possessed by default but surprisingly lost that ability forever once becoming full-fledged knight. But it took one to know one. So when Anakin, Obi-Wan and even Rex failed to find the Togruta warrior, Ratchet – once getting his arm taken care of and secured in a sling – accomplished the task in just one casual stroll down the hallway.

Ahsoka hid in the plain sight: in the engine room. There a heat of the engines to mask her from Rex's helmet's in-built scanners while a cacophony of noises was illogical for Jedi – who in the right mind would want to seek solace in such racket?

Ahsoka sat on the metal stoop, wrapped her skinny arms around her legs, resting her chin on her pointy knees. She looked like a stray, miserable, multicoloured loth cat.

"hey" the Lombax leaned over the railing.

The white bandage cut against his yellow fur.

"I'm sorry"

"I can see that." Ratchet sat next to her on the stair. "Look, it was an accident"

"I was thinking about it"

"about what? killing me?

"not killing-" Ahsoka interrupted "just getting rid of you"

"which is an euphemism for killing"

"Ratchet… I'm trying to pour my heart out!"

"I'm listening" the male padawan raised his both hands in defeat, he winced in pain.

"I mean… I didn't want it to happen. I just…" the girl sighed "you're better than me!"

"I have more experience than you"

"Troops like you better"

"you're a girl"

"what's that suppose to mean?"

"that they _like_ you _more_ by _default_ which also means they self-censor themselves around you all the time" Ratchet rolled his eyes "they can't swear, nor tell raunchy jokes – they have to be children and women friendly in your proximity. I'm a guy – it's just different relationship altogether"

"that is suppose to make me feel better?"

"Look" Ratchet sighed, and then scratched the spot next to the bandages "I once spent several months on undercover mission as a mechanic at a garage in the middle of a desert. Some things can't be unheard or unseen. So be happy that you know Rex as mister-goody-two-shoes."

Ahsoka let out an exasperated sigh.

"why you are with us?"

"well, I'm a padawan and as every student I need a master who-"

"why were you assigned to master Kenobi in the first place?"

"well he applied for one months ago"

"I know that! at our first meeting he though I was suppose to be his padawn" Ahsoka bolted "I mean you already _have_ a master!"

The Lombax flinched. After a while, he reached to his utility belt and took out a large golden disc.

"this chrono belonged to my previous teacher" the Lombax announced as he pressed the lid.

It sprung open. Ratchet oh-so-carefully passed her the device.

"that was my master" he pointed at the faded portrait inside "the Lombax next to him was my father - or so I was told"

"was?" She never met nor seen that white-red Lombax from the picture before.

Still, some Jedi rarely, if ever, came to the Jedi temple.

Ratchet's master had to be one of those knights.

"we were in command of the 42nd infantry regiment."

Ahsoka's eyes widened. The 42nd? So-called, _Galactic Rangers_? She heard about the massacre that clone regiment went through. Their outside contact – a celebrity figure known as _captain Quark_ – betrayed them, which was direct cause of their mission's failure. Only handful of soldiers survived the siege of the temple of the Great Clock.

"Ali-… my master was a good man, but he… turned dark. Blamed the _Republic's passivity_ for what happened to the Lombaxes. When I refused to comply with his orders, he tried to kill me."

A bone-chilling shiver run down the Togruta's spine. What happened to Ratchet was every padawan's worst nightmare. How could your master… your family… turn their backs on you? Betray you? Try to kill you?

And the way he said his tale, there was a melancholic, haunting timbre to his voice – the exact same tone as master Kenobi had, when Ahsoka asked him about master Jinn. Utter sadness and despair - a wound so deep that even whole sea of bacta would have a hard time to heal.

"Yet he, at the end…" Ratchet continued his tale "nevermind… I'm the only one left"

"I'm sorry to hear that"

"Clank believes that what he did was a brave thing," Ratchet said, "also… _there is no death, there is force_ , right?"

but Ahsoka knew Ratchet wasn't all right. The tragedy must have happened recently, the wounds were still fresh.

It turned out she was the _shiny_ one as master Skywalker, despite his bravado, always came out victorious from any obstacles that the war thrown at them. Loosing him never crossed Ahsoka's mind.

"I'm sorry" Ahsoka admitted, not sure if he would understand that she meant so much more than that.


End file.
